Philipsburg- Leader of Government Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams, on Monday morning met with Attorney General of the Netherlands Antilles Mr. Dick Piar and a four member delegation to discuss the establishment of a full-fledged Attorney General's Office on the island.
Commissioner Wescot described the meeting as very informative and a good exchange of ideas regarding the judicial structure for Country St. Maarten.
The discussions focused on a number of areas such as a policy cycle and a baseline criminal study. The policy of fighting crime will be fine tuned to each islands specific situation and circumstances.
Another area touched upon was having uniform procedures along with quality control; one uniform information, communication and technology ICT infrastructure for countries Curacao, St. Maarten and the BES-islands; the sharing of specialists amongst the three entities; public prosecutor offices working together and sharing resources; cooperation between the Attorney General's Office to fight border crossing criminality; money laundering; casino gaming board; the issue of job security for persons hired during the transition period by the Attorney General's Office; the BES-islands Chief Public Prosecutor making use of judicial office facilities on St. Maarten; and the financial aspect of covering the costs of the this part of the judicial system.
"I am looking forward to receiving the report from the Committee for the Establishment of an Attorney General's Office, and then we can have a follow-up meeting to discuss the details further.
"Each island has had different experiences where it concerns the relationship with the Attorney General's Office. That's why it is so important to have all the resources here to ensure a proper and optimal functioning Attorney General's Office.
"The rule of law is key to our national democracy and our democratic institutions. A good organizational structure is therefore necessary in order to effectively deal with crime," Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams told the Government Information Service (GIS).
The delegation included the Chief Public Prosecutor Leo de Wit, Chairman of the Committee for the Establishment of an Attorney General's Office Miguel Goede, Olaf Wilders and Chief Public Prosecutor on St. Maarten Taco Stein. Also attending the meeting was Constitutional Affairs Coordinator Dennis Richardson.
